Thirteen
Ava
It’s two in the morning, and I’m still tossing and turning.
Aurora was so worn out from playing with the boys that she slept the entire way home in the car, not even stirring when Maxim carried her inside.
Frustrated, I get out of bed, crack open my door, and peek out.
Maxim’s bedroom door at the end of the hall is open, which means he’s not there.
He’d never leave it open if he were inside.
I tiptoe toward the staircase and descend a few steps, but the dark, quiet downstairs tells me he’s not there either. Did he go out chasing women again? I shake my head at my own stupidity. Why do I even care? I have no right to get all worked up over his nightlife.
I take a deep breath, return to my room, and grab the baby monitor in case Aurora wakes up. Still in my thin satin slip that barely covers my ass, I quietly head back down the stairs. Maxim’s probably out whoring around, and Alex never shows up unannounced, so I figure I’m safe.
I descend the second staircase to the modern lower level where Maxim has his private gym, indoor pool, and sauna. I just want to sit by the pool’s edge and dip my feet in the water. Maybe it’ll help me relax enough to sleep.
As I step past the sensor, the glass door slides open automatically, and I step inside. The only light comes from the underwater pool lights, and I don’t bother turning on anything else. I prefer it this way—quiet, dim, peaceful.
“What are you doing here?”
The sound of his voice nearly makes me jump out of my skin.
I let out a scream and spin around, stumbling backward.
My ankle twists, and I almost fall straight into the pool when he swiftly grabs my arm and yanks me toward him.
I crash into his bare chest, realizing he’s drenched in sweat and wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.
“What? Did you see a ghost?” he grumbles.
I scowl, raising my voice slightly. “You scared the hell out of me! Why are you lurking in the dark?”
His tone softens. “Didn’t expect you to be sleepwalking at this hour.”
He raises the gun in his other hand to my face, showing he’s ready for anything, any time of night. “Why aren’t you in bed?”
Now that the initial panic fades, I realize I’m standing practically naked in his arms. Embarrassed, I pull back. He doesn’t resist but keeps holding my arm.
I squirm under his hold and mumble, “Let me go put something on.”
His voice drips with mockery. “You and I fucked like two feral cats in heat. There’s not an inch of my body you haven’t seen, nor a part of yours I’ve forgotten. Drop the act.”
I shoot him a glare and change the subject. “I couldn’t sleep. Why are you up?”
He releases my arm and turns away. “I was working out.”
Maxim’s gym is separated from the pool area by a glass wall. I cross my arms over my chest to cover my nipples, which have perked up under the thin satin just from standing this close to him.
“This late at night? Who works out at this hour?” I ask.
He sets his gun on a round stone table in the corner. “I’m not some government desk jockey with set hours. I train whenever I get the chance.” He turns back to me and gestures to his physique. “You think I stay this hot and fit by accident?”
I want to make fun of his ego, but my eyes betray me, trailing over his muscular body, silently admiring it. His low chuckle snaps me out of it, and I frown at him again. This time he just smirks and walks past me.
“Come on. Weren’t you here to swim?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer and dives straight into the water. He surfaces smoothly and glides across the pool with ease. After completing a lap, he comes back to where I’m standing, lifts his head, and asks again, “Why aren’t you coming in?”
I shift uncomfortably on my feet. “I didn’t want to swim. I just wanted to sit by the pool.”
His brows pull together. “Don’t tell me you can’t swim.”
He’s so sharp. I bite my lip in embarrassment and look away from him as water trickles down his stupidly attractive face.
From the corner of my eye, I see him slick his wet hair back, his voice turning irritated.
“So what were you thinking, coming to the pool alone? What if you’d fallen in? What the hell would you have done?”
He’s right. I shrug. “I’m careful. I always sit by the shallow end.”
“Still not a good enough reason. Accidents only need to happen once. Does Aurora know how to swim?”
I shake my head. He studies me for a moment, then nods. “I’ll teach you both.”
He extends his hand from the water, inviting me forward, but I step back without a second’s hesitation, glaring at him.
“You don’t trust me enough to put your life in my hands?”
His question catches me off guard. It makes me think. After everything he’s done for me and my daughter, after all the protection, the comfort, the life he’s given us—do I still not trust him?
To my surprise, he’s right. Trusting him feels as terrifying as diving into the deep end of this pool.
“There’s a remote on the table,” he says. “Grab it. And put the baby monitor up there too so it doesn’t get wet.”
The remote is sitting right next to his gun, a loaded gun he’s not afraid to leave within my reach.
Something warm stirs inside me at the trust he’s showing.
I pick up the remote and turn back to find he’s moved in the pool.
I walk toward him, holding it out. As he reaches for it, that look in his eyes instantly puts me on alert, but I react too late.
He yanks me forward and I crash into the water.
For a moment, I see the blurred tiled floor and everything goes muffled and silent, then my head breaks the surface, and I gulp air desperately. I glare at him, furious, into those dark eyes lit with amusement.
“Are you insane? I told you I can’t swim!”
He tightens his arm around my waist, pressing me against his chest. I push the wet hair plastered to my cheek aside, furious, “Let me go!”
The corner of his mouth quirks up, and he loosens his grip.
Feeling myself sink again, I panic, clawing at his shoulders and pulling myself up.
When I realize he’s not trying to hold me, his hands hanging lazily at his sides, I have no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist, climbing up him like a koala bear.
And then I feel the unmistakable bulge I know all too well. I shift slightly and glare at his smug face. “You’re such a perv!”
He just flashes me a smirk. Now I understand why he chose this particular spot in the pool. The water’s deep enough for him to stand with it covering most of his shoulders, but since I’m shorter, if I let go, I’ll completely sink.
Like a baby panda clinging to its mother’s neck, I tighten my arms around him and whine, “Alright, you’ve had your fun. Please take me to the edge.”
He acts like he didn’t hear me. His voice drops lower. “Relax. I’ve got you.”
Our faces are level, our eyes locked as if glued together, and we’re both nearly naked, wrapped around each other.
My heart skips every other beat, and I look away, instinctively resting my forehead on his shoulder.
One of his hands rises out of the water, still holding the remote.
He presses a few buttons and tosses it carelessly out of the pool.
A soft splash draws my eyes up. From the ceiling, a ring of rainfall showers down around us, lit with blue and green lights. It looks like we’re inside a curtain of rain.
I’m almost naked in the arms of a man my body and mind are constantly at war over, whether to crave him or push him away, and yet, this moment floods my veins with a peace I’ve never known.
I feel his hand stroking my arm, right over my old scar.
“What’s this scar from?” he asks softly, his thumb still brushing over my skin while he waits for an answer.
My mind drifts years into the past. Back to the night I got it.
Without lifting my head from his shoulder, I answer quietly.
“I was ten. My father was beating my mother, like he always did. I attacked him, and he threw me into the glass coffee table in the living room. The table shattered, and a piece of glass went into my arm.”
I hear him take a deep breath and feel his muscles tighten beneath my cheek.
His hand slides higher until it reaches my shoulder.
I don’t know if it’s the calming sound of the water or the warmth of Maxim’s body, but my mind feels safe enough to wander through the past.
The words leave me before I can stop them.
“Sometimes I still remember her eyes. She had the most beautiful eyes in the world. Even when there was a knife buried in her chest and the life was already gone from them… they were still beautiful.”
His hand tightens slightly on my shoulder.
“I’m sure they were.”
Pain burns at the back of my throat.
“She didn’t deserve to die like that.”
He presses his forehead against my hair and wraps his arms around me tighter.
“No, Ava, she didn’t. No mother should die in front of her kid, and no kid should have to watch their mother die.”
His voice grows rougher, heavier.
“You never should’ve seen that kind of violence at that age. You never should’ve had to find your way through this world alone and terrified.”
My eyes burn, but I force the tears back.
“I can’t change what happened to you. But I swear to you right now, our daughter will never grow up afraid. She’ll never know that kind of darkness.”
He pulls me tighter against him. “I’ll protect her with my life, Ava.”
He pauses for a moment before continuing more firmly, “Both of you. Those dark days are over.”
His arm slips around my waist, like he’s about to lower me back into the water, but I instinctively cling tighter. He dips his face in the crook of my neck, whispering, “Trust me. Relax your body. I’ve got you.”
His voice is so soft, so steady, my tense muscles start to loosen without permission.
Trusting him is still terrifying, but I close my eyes and surrender myself to his hold.
One of his arms moves behind my back, the other rests gently over my chest, guiding me to lie on the water. Instinctively, I grab onto his bicep.